More resources needed to expand prisoners’ reintegration programme – Prisons Director

Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels believes that despite several programmes have been conducted to reintegrate prisoners into society, the process is not at the desired level.

Speaking with Guyana Times, Samuels explained that the reintegration programme is progressing as it should with effective training and opportunities being granted to prisoners who will soon be released back into society.
As such, he posited that once more resources are provided, the Prison Service can offer more to a larger number of prisoners who fit the criteria for exposure into the relevant programmes.
“All of that is happening but it is not happening at the level that it should because our focus is on having staff deployed to the prisons’ locations. But at those out flung areas, Mazaruni, Timehri and so on those are still activities there that persons are involved in. It is going well.”
He further stated that some of the prisoners who earn a payment are being allowed to assist their family members in taking care of their necessary expenses.
“Come September, a number of those persons who are working would have to assist their children in going back to school. This would be done from them earning some monies while in prison. Which some people on the road are not doing.”
Additionally, he stated that the programme will provide the inmates with the necessary skills to find employment when they are released. This is expected to have an impact on them becoming repeat offenders.
Last year, the final report of the study of inmates in Guyana was released and showed the rate of recidivism in Guyana is lower than that of many developed countries.
He had described the findings as evidence that the local approach to rehabilitation of prisoners is working.
“What I am happy about based on the findings submitted, is that while recidivism is something we have been working to reduce in Guyana, this study would have revealed that our recidivism rate is way below many developed countries in the world. This points to the fact that our rehabilitative programmes are serving the purpose in terms of preparing prisoners with life skills that will allow them to better reintegrate into society,” Samuels had said.
Further, Samuels at that time had explained that through the survey conducted, the authorities were better informed and policies have been derived to improve the delivery of service [to inmates]. He had also assured that the report’s findings will be meaningfully utilised to develop existing programmes and craft new ones for inmates’ rehabilitation.
“The Guyana Prison Service has as one of its main mandates, the rehabilitation of offenders, in order to prepare them for reentry into society. [It] is something that we have been paying attention to despite the fact [that] we recognise the need for us to improve in terms of the number of persons we capture. Efforts are continuously being made in order to do so”, the acting Director of Prisons added.